Mr Suder, In Engineering, With The Coil Spanner
by HolmesHarleyWatson
Summary: What if Ensign Lon Suder didn't intentionally kill Crewman Darwin? What if he had contracted a rare disease in the Delta Quadrant that only effected Betazoids? A disease that caused him to lose control of his telepathic and empathic abilities momentarily; therefore fatally injuring Darwin unintentionally? What if there was someone on board other than Tuvok that could help him?


_**Hi Guys! This is a story about Ensign Lon Suder; the Betazoid played by the delicious Brad Dourif. It's a shame that we only had him for 3 episodes and I didn't really like what they did with his character; so of course I have to fix it, lol. This is an AU timeline/story/plot, like all of my work. **_

_**Summary: What if Ensign Suder didn't intentionally kill Crewman Darwin? What if he had contracted a rare disease in the Delta Quadrant that only effected Betazoids? A disease that caused him to lose control of his empathic abilities momentarily; therefore fatally injuring Darwin unintentionally?**_

Chapter 1: Pass me a Coil Spanner

"Torres to Suder," The Comm badge chirped, startling the Ensign awake a good hour before his shift was to start.

"Go ahead," He husked sleepily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he sat up in bed.

"Ensign, I need you in Engineering a little earlier than expected. We have a leak in the warp cores anti-matter containment field and we need as many hands as we can get down here." Torres replied succinctly.

"On my way." Lon said, snatching a clean uniform from his dresser and heading to the bathroom for a quick sonic shower.

For over a year, he had been working hard in engineering; endeavoring to shed as much of the stigma of his Maquis background as possible. Torres and Chakotay had been helpful; implementing many of his suggestions to streamline warp drive efficiency and reporting his progress to Captain Janeway and Tuvok. The Captain had been cautious with him at first, which was understandable due to him being a complete stranger and an ex-Maquis, but she had eventually began to notice that he took his duties seriously and had begun to treat him with the same respect as her Starfleet officers. Tuvok was another matter entirely; it seemed that he was never going to trust any of the ex-Maquis at all. Lon knew that Vulcans were supposed to control their emotions and be impartial in all situations; but he always had the nagging feeling that he was still judging them and keeping all of them under constant surveillance.

He took a deep calming breath as he pinned his solitary rank pip into place and left his quarters, taking the turbolift down to engineering.

"Ensign, I need you to monitor dilithium consumption while I take a team down to the port warp engine nacelle. Report fluctuations to me immediately," Lieutenant Torres ordered, nodding towards his usual post.

"Yes Lieutenant," Lon replied, taking the PADD she handed him and getting to work.

An hour into his duty shift he was completely consumed by his work.

"Suder to Torres, I'm running an analysis on the matter/anti-matter containment field; there appears to be a considerable amount of flux leading to the Reactor Room now that requires stabilization. I've erected a level eight forcefield that should contain the radiation for now, but I think that a team needs to repair it asap." He reported, re-running fuel analysis once again.

"Get over there with Darwin and get it stabilized; with the ship the way it is now we can't even get to warp two." Torres sighed her frustration.

Darwin pulled the toolkit from his station and followed Lon into the Reactor Room, handing him a coil spanner as he knelt in front of chambers panel.

"Captain, I'm picking up unusual energy readings from a Nebula just off our starboard nacelle. There appears to be a particle cloud emanating from it and the particles… according to these readings; the particles are living entities. The cloud is heading right towards us," Harry Kim reported.

"Living entities? Tom, alter our course to veer away from the Nebula and open a frequency; send out a message that we're simply passing through. We don't want to appear hostile," Captain Janeway ordered.

"No response or change in their heading; they appear to be following us." Tom Paris replied.

"Chakotay to Torres, when can we expect our Warp Drive back online?" He asked edgily.

"I'm looking at a timeframe of at least six hours. It's a mess down here," Torres said tersely.

Chakotay's gaze met Janeway's with a silent question.

"B'elanna, try to get us up and running in four hours or less. I don't like us drifting around the Delta Quadrant at barely Warp One." The Captain replied.

A shrill alarm rent the air suddenly as the ship seemingly collided with something solid, sending the crew on the bridge careening portside.

"Red alert! What the Hell just happened?!" Janeway shouted as she helped Chakotay back to his feet.

"The particles appeared to have attached themselves to the starboard side of the ship," Tuvok reported stoically.

"Damage report?" Chakotay asked looking between Tuvok and Harry.

"No major damage, Commander." Harry replied.

Meanwhile in engineering B'elanna was rearranging everyone's shift for the next twelve hours, her face and clothes smudged with dilithium dust and her hair in disarray.

Lon turned to ask for a hyper spanner when he stiffened and fell, clutching his head as his nose began to bleed profusely.

"Darwin to The Infirmary, medical emergency in engineering." The Ensign gasped, kneeling beside Lon as he collapsed; his body convulsing in a violent seizure.

B'elanna snatched a med kit from the wall and raced over, pulling her tricorder just as a strange blue pulsing light burst forth from the center of Lon's chest, hitting Darwin in the head and chest before dissipating as quickly as it had appeared.

The Doctor pushed past her, his own tricorder drawn and customary frown in place as he peered down at the readings before him.

"Ensign Darwin is dead," He said, moving on to Lon to stabilize him for transport to the infirmary.

"There… there was just this light coming from Suder when he was seizing and it hit Darwin in the head and chest and he just dropped to the ground," Torres stammered.

Blissfully unaware of all of this calamity was a young El-Aurian named Natira dancing around the Airponics Bay as she manually pollinated a tray of vegetable shoots.

She swayed hypnotically to the beat, picking up her watering pail and trowel and moving down the rows of vibrantly colored plants.

Natira had been held by the Maquis for a short time as a possibly useful prisoner before they had all joined Janeway on the USS Voyager. Not that her short imprisonment had made that great of an impact on her life anyways; she had been nomadically traveling the Delta Quadrant as it were.

Her people's abilities granted her many unique qualities; and mothering the plants and flowers in the airponics bay was just one of them.

Natira had very luckily never been subject to the prejudice or scrutiny that her former captors had been subjected to, so she was given some freedoms and liberties nearly right away after Janeway and Tuvok had determined that she bore them no ill will. Her life consisted of assisting Neelix in the mess hall and keeping the airponics bay flourishing; other than that her time was her own, which was the way she liked it.

If you had to ask her, she would tell you that she preferred her own company to that of others. It wasn't that she was anti-social, she could play the social butterfly when she needed to; she just liked peace and quiet.

"EMH to Natira," Her rarely used Comm badge called, making her jump slightly and stare at the tiny device; which had hitherto simply been mandatory jewelry.

So much for peace and quiet.

"Yes?" She asked hesitantly, wincing inwardly at how stupid she must sound.

"Your presence is required in sick bay," The Doctor said, and something in the tone of his voice told her that he didn't have good news.

"Okay," Natira replied awkwardly, setting aside her supplies and racing towards the nearest turbolift; some unfounded anxiety settling in the pit of her stomach.

She raced through the doors of sick bay moments later, nearly colliding with Kes and Tuvok in the process.

Natira's eyes widened slightly as the tall Vulcan stepped aside, giving her a clear view of Lon Suder laying prone on a bio bed; his face smeared with blood and his skin pale.

"Ensign Suder has listed you as his next of kin, and as his health is currently in a precarious state; he is in need of someone to make medical decisions for him." The Doctor explained as she approached the bio bed.

"What happened?" She asked, recalling that she had just seen her introverted friend in the Mess Hall the previous night.

"We actually don't have all of the details yet, but the Ensign has suffered a very serious brain hemorrhage; from the readings I've gathered, he was the victim of a vicious telepathic attack from an unknown source. Right now, his nervous system is in shock and I believe that his telepathic and empathic abilities have been affected, which may be more of a blessing than a curse under these circumstances as he would be incapable of shutting out anyone's thoughts and the noise of the thoughts of everyone on this ship would only cause further damage to synapses." The Doctor said as Kes injected a strong sedative to help Lon sleep.

"So, what do we do now?" Natira asked, glancing between The Doctor and Kes for answers.

"That will have to be your decision. Has Ensign Suder shared his wishes with you in the event that he is incapacitated?" Tuvok asked in his blunt and efficient manner.

"Yes," She nodded, still attempting to process everything as Kes began to gently swab the blood from his face.

"At this time, he will need a complex surgical procedure to repair the neurological damage he suffered, but we require your consent as there is a 30 to 40 percent chance that he may not survive the procedure in his current weakened state. However if we wait any longer to perform the operation, the damage will be irreparable, and it would be most likely that he would not be able to walk or talk again." The Doctor explained.

"Okay….. perform the operation as soon as you can; he would've wanted to take the chance," She said with certainty, though she was anxious for her friends chances of survival.

"Very well," The Doctor agreed, motioning for Kes to prepare his instruments.

"Tuvok, I'll need access to Lon's quarters? To feed his cat?" Natira said softly; she had always felt as though the Vulcan was going to shout at her.

Tuvok nodded, motioning for one of his security officers to escort her to Ensign Suder's quarters.

She hesitated, looking at her friends deathly-still form on the bio bed.

"We'll keep you updated on his condition," Kes promised.

"Natira is his next of kin?! She was our _prisoner,_" B'elanna scoffed, looking at Chakotay as though he were standing on his head.

"Those two were fast friends from day one, probably something to do with the whole telepathic/empathic thing," the Commander replied with a shrug.

"If that were the case, Tuvok would be part of that circle." She snorted as Chakotay shook his head.

"Tuvok isn't the type for socializing much, we all know that. At the same time, I don't think this is really any of our business for now. It's obvious that he chose Natira for his own reasons; we all chose new next of kin when we got stranded out here; and each of us for our own reasons. Our main priorities for now are to notate that particular stretch of space impassible and to make final arrangements for Ensign Darwin while Ensign Suder is hopefully recovering." Janeway sighed, dismissing the impromptu meeting.

"Captain, you should know that while Ensign Suder may eventually regain his ability to walk; he must be remanded to his quarters indefinitely for the time being for his safety and the safety of the crew. These telepathic attacks that he's now prone to are proving to have lethal force and they strike with very little warning. I've placed a cortical monitor to warn him when an attack is coming so that he can prepare for its onslaught as much as possible, but that's all we can do for now. Natira has agreed to remain with Mr. Suder as his caregiver as she's one of the only people on board that can defend herself telepathically." The Doctor reported regretfully.

"Very well. We should look into moving Mr. Suder into larger quarters if he's to be quarantined for the remainder of our journey; I can only imagine the mental and emotional strain he must be feeling right now," She said contemplatively.

"Mr. Suder has also lost some of his Betazoid abilities temporarily I believe due to the shock of the damage to his paracortex and the fluctuation of his psilosynine levels; while he can telepathically superimpose the effects of these attacks, he is no longer capable of sensing others thoughts or emotions. Psychologically this is effecting him the most; for a Betazoid it would be the human equivalent to losing ones sight or hearing." The Doctor explained.

"Do what you can to make him as comfortable as possible for now. I'll contact him via secure channel later on today; I want him aware that he has the full support of his crew during his convalescence," the Captain said, signing off of the EMH channel and pouring herself a large cup of coffee.

It appeared that she had a long day ahead of her…..

Lon was still and silent as The Doctor prepared him to be beamed to his quarters; eyes closed and breathing steady and deep. He was attempting to listen for a voice or a thought; anyone's thoughts, any sounds at all.

But all was silent; and it unnerved him.

The depth of the silence.

The Sick bay was empty save for the Doctor and Lon himself, it had to be that way for everyone's safety.

He was a murderer now.

Sure, he had killed before for the Maquis. He had killed for survival, had killed when he was ordered to so that women and children could survive the Cardassians.

Now he had killed without realizing he was killing; without motive or provocation.

He had killed someone he had been working with for over a year. Sure, he and Darwin weren't close at all, in fact he barely knew the man.

Did he leave behind a Wife? Children?

"I'm transporting you to your quarters now Mr. Suder, but if you should require anything, please don't hesitate to call,"

There was the temporary airy feeling of molecular displacement and then he was seated in his wheelchair in the main room of his quarters.

Natira was sitting in his armchair with Min curled in her lap and a PADD in her hands as she worked over plans for the next Leola Root planting.

The normalcy of the sight calmed his nerves considerably; for they had spent many a day like this, a comfortable silence between them as they shared his space.

"It's nice to know my presence hasn't been missed," He quipped lightly, nodding towards his cat in her lap; who was completely oblivious to his sudden reappearance.

"Min was prepared to grieve in her own way," She replied with a wink, scratching the black feline behind the ears.

"Only if the food ran out I'm sure." Lon replied sarcastically as Min squinted her eyes open and acknowledged him with a yawn before jumping down to resituate herself on the couch and go back to sleep.

"She's obviously gushing over your return," Natira laughed as she tossed her PADD down on the coffee table and rose to greet him with a hug.

Lon held her close for several minutes, feeling relief wash over him as he sensed her thoughts and emotions; a mixture of relief, friendship, concern, and love.

"Min isn't the only one happy to see me then?" He asked softly.

She shook her head and met his eyes, puzzled by his hesitation. She could feel a lot of guilt and uncertainty as she read his thoughts and emotions, his dark eyes were troubled; the normal humorous gleam in them absent.

Before Natira could ask him anything, the cortical monitor at his temple lit up and beeped softly; indicating the onslaught of another attack.

"We have to get you in bed, you need to rest." She said, knowing that a telepathic attack would leave him drained of what little energy he did possess.

"You need to leave, this is dangerous." Lon breathed, shuddering as a sharp pain lanced through his temple and forehead.

"Not for me it's not, you know that. You just don't want me fussing over you," She teased as she helped him stand and pivot into bed; an awkward feat due to their height difference.

Lon fidgeted slightly, an unpleasant buzzing filling his mind as she pulled his blankets over him. He tried to breathe deeply and prepare himself for the attack, but he shuddered again as an odd electrical feeling pulsed up his spine to the base of his skull.

Natira's tricorder indicated minor seizure activity and misfiring in his paracortex once more; just as the Doctor had warned her there would be. She dialed up a dose of Hyperzine in a hypospray and administered it as Kes had taught her to in her crash course in medicine in preparation for Lon's aftercare.

Lon curled into a fetal position and closed his eyes; but his breathing was becoming even and deep and the unusual shuddering had subsided greatly.

"Nat, I don't want you taking care of me like this. I….I'm going to be sick for a long time," He stuttered, curling so tightly into himself that he resembled Min on the couch.

She brushed his hair from his forehead, studying her tricorder readings and frowning as his norepinephrine levels increased.

"Just try to relax, Lon. It's okay," She assured him, flinching slightly as the first wave of the telepathic attack struck and his body arched off of the bed with the force of it.

Natira gave him a second round of Hyperzine as well as a small dose of tritacederine for pain; and now all she could do was wait for the attack to pass…


End file.
